May 3, 2011

Vanessa Hicks’ lawsuit follows last year’s class action lawsuit filed on behalf of about 25 New Yorkers who allege they only got tickets because the police officer was trying to fill a quota. And it follows lawsuits by Police Officer Adrian Schoolcraft, and Officer Adil Polanco who claim the NYPD retaliated against them for objecting to the quotas and reporting misconduct. In addition, the Center for Constitutional Rights is suing the NYPD over its stop and frisk practices.

The issue isn’t confined to New York. Last month, two Los Angeles police officers won a $2 million judgment against the LAPD for firing them when they objected to a ticketing quota.

Hicks claims that the trouble started after she argued with her sergeant. She says her bosses began to demand unrealistic quotas and reprimand her for bogus reasons.

“It was a job I always wanted to do,” Hicks, 33, told the Daily News. “I wanted to do something to help my community, to make a difference. But I wasn’t going to go out there and issue an 80-year-old a summons.”

The NYPD claims Hicks was fired for insubordination, but her lawyer, Christopher Dunn, said it had nothing to do with that.

“When this is over, it will be clear there is a highly organized system of quotas placing relentless pressure on officers to write summonses and make arrests in the 42nd Precinct,” Dunn tells the Daily News.